scholarly journals A new biological rhythm mutant of Drosophila melanogaster that identifies a gene with an essential embryonic function.

Genetics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 1077-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
L M Newby ◽  
F R Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Transcription Unit ◽  
P Element ◽  
Circadian Pacemaker ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Essential Function ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes ◽  
Free Running Period

Abstract To identify components of a circadian pacemaker output pathway, we have sought Drosophila mutations that alter the timing of eclosion but do not perturb circadian period or the expression of the activity rhythm. A mutant named lark has been identified, for which daily peaks of eclosion occur abnormally early while populations are synchronized to either light/dark or temperature cycles. The temporal phasing of locomotor activity in lark mutants, however, is entirely normal, as is the free-running period of the circadian pacemaker. The lark strain carries a single P-element insertion which, interestingly, has a dominant effect on the timing of eclosion, but is also associated with a recessive embryonic lethal phenotype. The analysis of excision-generated alleles suggests that the lark gene encodes an essential function. This function is apparently mediated by a transcription unit that is interrupted by the P-induced lark mutation. A combination of in situ hybridization analysis and reporter (beta-gal) staining indicates that this transcription unit expresses mRNAs throughout the embryonic central nervous system and in a defined subset of cells in the nervous system of pharate adults. RNAs are first detected at about embryonic stage 11, just prior to the stage at which lethality occurs in lark homozygotes. Based primarily on the observed mutant phenotypes, a function is proposed for the LARK product(s) that is consistent with the pleiotropic nature of lark mutations.

Gonadal hormones organize and modulate the circadian system of the rat

1981 ◽  
Vol 241 (1) ◽  
pp. R62-R66 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Albers
Keyword(s):  
Testosterone Propionate ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Gonadal Hormones ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Free Running Period

The circadian wheel-running rhythms of gonadectomized adult male, female, and perinatally androgenized female rats, maintained in constant darkness, were examined before and after implantation of Silastic capsules containing cholesterol (C) or estradiol-17 beta (E). The free-running period of the activity rhythm (tau) before capsule implantation tended to be shorter in animals exposed to perinatal androgen. Administration of C did not reliably alter tau in any group. E significantly shortened tau in 100% of females injected with oil on day 3 of life. In females, injected with 3.5 micrograms testosterone propionate on day 3, and males, E shortened or lengthened tau, with the direction and magnitude of this change in tau inversely related to the length of the individual's pretreatment tau. These data indicate that the presence of perinatal androgen does not eliminate the sensitivity of the circadian system of the rat to estrogen, since estrogen alters tau in a manner that depends on its pretreatment length.

Effects of aging on entrainment and rate of resynchronization of circadian locomotor activity

1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (5) ◽  
pp. R1099-R1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Zee ◽  
R. S. Rosenberg ◽  
F. W. Turek
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Phase Advance ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Free Running Period ◽  
Related Phase

The phase angle of entrainment of the circadian rhythm of the locomotor activity rhythm to a light-dark (LD) cycle was examined in young (2-5 mo old) and middle-aged (13-16 mo old) hamsters. An age-related phase advance in the onset of locomotor activity relative to lights off was seen during stable entrainment to a 14:10-h LD cycle. In addition, the effects of age on the rate of reentrainment of the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity were examined by subjecting young and middle-aged hamsters to either an 8-h advance or delay shift of the LD cycle. Middle-aged hamsters resynchronized more rapidly after a phase advance of the LD cycle than did young hamsters, whereas young hamsters were able to phase delay more rapidly than middle-aged hamsters. The age-related phase advance of activity onset under entrained conditions, and the alteration of responses in middle-aged hamsters reentraining to a phase-shifted LD cycle, may be due to the shortening of the free-running period of the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity with advancing age that has previously been observed in this species.

Variation in the naturally occurring rhythm of the estuarine amphipod, Corophium volutator (Pallas)

1983 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 833-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter F. Holmström ◽  
Elfed Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Corophium Volutator ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Recording Conditions ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Endogenous Activity ◽  
Free Running Period ◽  
Time Lapse Photography

The endogenous activity rhythm of the estuarine amphipod Corophium volutator has been studied by direct observation and with the use of time lapse photography. The rhythm persists under constant conditions having a free running period of between 12 and 13 h, and with activity maxima occurring during the early ebb. Freshly collected animals show a rhythm which is modulated on a semi-lunar basis, the activity maxima being attenuated during the neap tide periods, and the rhythm has also been found to vary in definition throughout the year. The activity pattern is most clearly denned in early summer and autumn, the population becoming arrhythmic during the winter months. The rhythm is relatively unaffected by the ambient light intensity and temperature of the recording conditions, and is evident in all post-natal stages of development. The possibility of mutual entrainment is discussed.

Zur Beziehung zwischen Phasenlage und Spontanfrequenz bei der endogenen Tagesperiodik

1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Phase Angle ◽  
Diurnal Rhythm ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Sustained Oscillation ◽  
Temperature Cycle ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Experimental Demonstration ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Spontaneous Frequency ◽  
Free Running Period

The mechanism underlying the endogenous diurnal periodicity of biological processes can be considered a self-sustained oscillation, which can be entrained to an external cycle. In such oscillations the phase-angle of the entrained cycle depends upon the spontaneous frequency (free-running period) of the oscillator.The activity rhythm of lizards kept in constant light, and in a sinusoidal 24-hour temperature cycle, showed entrainment to this cycle. The phase of the entrained rhythm depended on the spontaneous frequency which was expressed in constant conditions occurring immediately before or after the exposure to the extraneous cycle. This is the first experimental demonstration showing the dependence of phase on the free-running period in an endogenous diurnal rhythm.

Failure of pinealectomy or melatonin to alter circadian activity rhythm of the rat

1982 ◽  
Vol 242 (3) ◽  
pp. R261-R264 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Cheung ◽  
C. E. McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Physiological Mechanism ◽  
Continuous Darkness ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Melatonin Administration ◽  
Wheel Running Activity ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Dim Light ◽  
Free Running Period

These experiments were undertaken to determine if the pineal gland is involved in the physiological mechanism by which the rat alters its free-running period (tau) in response to changes in illuminance. Spontaneous wheel-running activity was recorded from pinealectomized or sham-operated female Charles River rats. The tau of running activity was determined in continuous darkness (DD) or in continuous dim light (LL). Pinealectomized rats and sham-operated rats lengthened their tau's to approximately the same extent when shifted from DD to LL and shortened their tau's when shifted back to DD. Continuous melatonin administration via Silastic capsules failed to alter tau of rats kept in dim LL. These results indicate that the pineal is not primarily involved in the mechanism by which the rat alters tau in response to changes in illuminance.

Stability of circadian timing with age in Syrian hamsters

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (4) ◽  
pp. R960-R968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred C. Davis ◽  
N. Viswanathan
Keyword(s):  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Circadian Pacemaker ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Syrian Hamsters ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Wheel Running Activity ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Free Running Period

The causes of age-related disruptions in the timing of human sleep and wakefulness are not known but may include changes in both the homeostatic and circadian regulation of sleep. In Syrian hamsters the free running period of the circadian activity/rest rhythm has been reported to shorten with age. Although this has been observed under a variety of experimental conditions, the changes have been small and their consistency uncertain. In the present study, the wheel running activity/rest rhythm was continuously measured in male Syrian hamsters ( Mesocricetus auratus) in dim constant light (<1 lx) from 8 wk of age until death. Fifteen hamsters survived to at least 90 wk (28%). The average free running period of these hamsters did not change with age. In 18 hamsters that died between 50 and 88 wk, free running period also did not change before death. In contrast to free running period, other measures related to activity level changed significantly with age and before death. Despite changes in the expression of the activity/rest rhythm, the free running period of the hamster circadian pacemaker remained remarkably stable with age.

The persistence and modulation of endogenous circatidal rhythmicity in Lipophrys pholis (Teleostei)

1990 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Northcott ◽  
R. N. Gibson ◽  
E. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
High Tide ◽  
Initial Activity ◽  
Tidal Period ◽  
Expected Time ◽  
Experimental Apparatus ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Free Running Period

In constant conditions, freshly-collected Lipophrys pholis show an endogenous circatidal activity rhythm, the initial activity peaks of which are phased to the expected time of high tide. The rhythm usually damps out over a few days but it may re-appear spontaneously or as a result of disturbance caused by handling and transfer to the experimental apparatus. The free-running period is more variable in fish kept in non-tidal conditions for prolonged periods than in those recorded shortly after capture. The non-circatidal periodicity shown by some fish may be the result of stable coupling in antiphase of desynchronised oscillators. There is no semilunar variation of the circatidal rhythm and no influence of the slight diurnal inequality in tidal period upon the rhythm's periodicity, at least at the site studied. The activity rhythm of Lipophrys varies seasonally.

scholarly journals Aberrant Splicing and Altered Spatial Expression Patterns in fruitless Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 725-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen F Goodwin ◽  
Barbara J Taylor ◽  
Adriana Villella ◽  
Margit Foss ◽  
Lisa C Ryner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Situ Hybridization ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
P Element ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Alternative Processing ◽  
Multiple Promoters ◽  
Processing Pathways ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes

Abstract The fruitless (fru) gene functions in Drosophila males to establish the potential for male sexual behaviors. fru encodes a complex set of sex-specific and sex-nonspecific mRNAs through the use of multiple promoters and alternative pre-mRNA processing. The male-specific transcripts produced from the distal (P1) fru promoter are believed to be responsible for its role in specifying sexual behavior and are only expressed in a small fraction of central nervous system (CNS) cells. To understand the molecular etiology of fruitless mutant phenotypes, we compared wild-type and mutant transcription patterns. These experiments revealed that the fru2, fru3, fru4, and frusat mutations, which are due to P-element inserts, alter the pattern of sex-specific and sex-nonspecific fru RNAs. These changes arise in part from the P-element insertions containing splice acceptor sites that create alternative processing pathways. In situ hybridization revealed no alterations in the locations of cells expressing the P1-fru-promoter-derived transcripts in fru2, fru3, fru4, and frusat pharate adults. For the fru1 mutant (which is due to an inversion breakpoint near the P1 promoter), Northern analyses revealed no significant changes in fru transcript patterns. However, in situ hybridization revealed anomalies in the level and distribution of P1-derived transcripts: in fru1 males, fewer P1-expressing neurons are found in regions of the dorsal lateral protocerebrum and abdominal ganglion compared to wild-type males. In other regions of the CNS, expression of these transcripts appears normal in fru1 males. The loss of fruitless expression in these regions likely accounts for the striking courtship abnormalities exhibited by fru1 males. Thus, we suggest that the mutant phenotypes in fru2, fru3, fru4, and frusat animals are due to a failure to appropriately splice P1 transcripts, whereas the mutant phenotype of fru1 animals is due to the reduction or absence of P1 transcripts within specific regions of the CNS.

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